Matthew and the Mime
by death by storm
Summary: Wherein Alfred takes Matthew to the circus. Matthew ends up volunteering for an act with a mime with white hair, red eyes, and a confident smile. PrussiaxCanada, AU.


_Alright, so I don't really know if there are mimes who even work for circuses. ... Well they do in my world._

* * *

"Another week done," Matthew sighed as he threw his laptop bag into the back of his car. He was completely exhausted. At least the elevator hadn't broken down again; the first time that week that it hadn't. The elevator serviced the mall too, not just the office tower that he worked in, so it was surprising how often that he got stuck in there himself. Many of his coworkers had the same problem, but no one wanted to climb twelve flights of stairs.

He was looking forward to a quiet Friday evening just him, a movie and a bowl of popcorn. It was rare that he went out at all considering that he didn't have much of a social life, but he found he didn't mind so much. He supposed that he had gotten used to it over the years. His shy demeanour didn't help much either giving him the ability to almost completely fade into the background.

His cellphone began to vibrate. Matthew sighed. There was only one person who would call him at this time on a Friday.

"Hey Al," Matthew murmured into the phone.

"Hey Mattie guess what I won?"

"What?"

"I won tickets to that circus that comes by every year. I'll pick you up at seven." Alfred promptly hung up before Matthew had a chance to reply.

He closed his phone, his eye twitching. "Why do you always assume that I am free?" he sighed.

"Come on, we have to stop at McDonald's!" Alfred said.

"No we don't," Matthew said.

"The decision is unanimous then. We shall stop at McDonald's!"

"How is it unanimous? I said no! And the tickets say that the circus starts at eight. It's seven thirty now."

"Aw come on Mattie. You know these things always start fifteen minutes late."

"You're thinking of the movie theatre, Al," Matthew grumbled.

"But we never eat meals together anymore," Alfred complained.

"That's because you have no taste," Matthew muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"I said it's because you and I have different tastes."

"Please?"

"Fine," Matthew said.

"You're the best!" Alfred exclaimed

He swung abruptly across four lanes of traffic to pull into a McDonald's. Matthew just sunk into his seat and hung on for dear life.

Just as he had predicted earlier the performances had already begun when they arrived. Alfred had a hard time arguing with security at the front. He ended up bribing the security guard, who was someone both Alfred and Matthew had known since they were small.

"Come on Artie! Let us in," Alfred begged.

Arthur Kirkland's left eye twitched at the nickname. "No."

"Pleeease?"

"No!"

Matthew sighed and ripped the McDonald's bag that held Alfred's last burger out of his hand.

"Mattie!"

"I'm sorry," Matthew muttered. He thrust the bag into Arthur's hand. "Now may I please go in?"

"Yes, of course Matthew," Arthur said.

Arthur stepped to the side and allowed Matthew to go through. Alfred moved to follow. Arthur stepped in front of the door again.

"Hey! Let me in too!"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No."

Alfred poked him.

"Oh fine!"

The light temporarily blinded Matthew as he stepped into the stadium. Below him the crowd roared in approval at the trapeze artists doing graceful flips and other breath stopping acrobatics. Matthew froze and tore his eyes away from the ring. Where was his seat?

"Let's see... seat A-32... where would that be?" his quiet voice was drowned out by the noise of the cheers below him as the trapeze artists finished.

"And now!" Matthew jumped, he hadn't realised that the speakers were right behind him. "Introducing Prussia!"

Matthew glanced up - Wasn't Prussia the name of a country that didn't exist anymore? - and was mesmerized at the sight that he saw. A man about his age had come on stage. From his outfit it was clear that he was a mime. Even from where Matthew was standing, he could see the man's white hair and crimson eyes. Nestled on top of his head was a small yellow bird.

An albino?

"At this stage in the act, Prussia will need an assistant. He will release Gilbird, the bird on top of his head to find him a volunteer. Whoever the bird approaches will be the one to join Prussia on stage for the improvisation part of the show."

The mime, or Prussia as he was called gently lifted the bird from its perch. He pushed his hands up into the air to encourage the bird to take off. And take off it did. It began to circle the theatre.

Matthew sighed in relief as he finally located his seat and began to head for it. It was times like these that he was glad that he seemed invisible to many people. The last thing that he wanted to do was get on stage, even though it was unlikely that he was going to be picked in the first place due to the sheer size of the audience.

A chirp came from overhead. He glanced up just in time to see the small yellow ball of feathers heading straight for him. Matthew ducked slightly in order to avoid it, but was foiled as his actions actually made it easier for the bird to land on his head.

Matthew winced as its claws dug slightly into his scalp. He felt it tug his hair slightly with its beak as it made a nest for itself.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our volunteer!"

It was only then that Matthew noticed that all eyes in the room were on him. He swallowed hard.

"Come on! Don't be shy," the announcer said.

Prussia beckoned towards him with a wink. Matthew sighed. He didn't really have a choice then, did he? The little bird rode precariously on his head, chirping all the time. He felt rather than saw it take off and turned to watch the bird flutter back to rest on Prussia's head.

"Hello and what is your name?" the announcer asked.

"M-Matthew."

"And where are you from, Matthew?"

"C-Canada."

"Let's give it up for Canada!"

The boisterous crowd began to cheer again as the lights dimmed, throwing the stage into a sharp relief of black and white. Matthew glanced around and noticed that the only thing in colour was him.

"The prompt is a silent and dramatic love story," came the announcer's voice on the speakers.

Matthew pushed back a frown. Weren't mimes supposed to be funny?

He jumped slightly as Prussia suddenly loomed out of the shadows. A devilish look glittered brightly in his red eyes. The man's gloved hand reached out and grasped Matthew's. He bent over and mimed placing a kiss on the back of his hand in a suggestive manner and then retreated into the shadows once more.

There was a wait for about ten seconds and the mime burst from the shadows once more. He wrapped one hand around Matthew's waist and grasped his hand with his other. Matthew let out a squeak as he was then dragged into a stumbling waltz across the stage. Prussia bowed towards him and then vanished back into the shadows.

There was a sound behind him and Matthew turned to see another mime, also pale, but with sharp purple eyes approach him. This one had a childish smile on his face, but held a threatening aura about him. He bent onto one knee in front of him and took Matthew's hand. He held there for a moment before leaping to his feet and grabbing Matthew by the wrist. With a mischievous look, the man began to drag Matthew from the spot that he had been standing to run around the ring.

The light stayed trained upon them as they raced around the ring before the large man in front of him came to a halt. Prussia stood there in a duelling pose with his fist out before him as if he was holding a sword. He reached up and tilted his imaginary hat forward to shade his brow before slowly and deliberately stepping towards the other mime. The large man took one step back and Matthew moved to the side as Prussia advanced. He watched the spotlight instead begin to train on them. After forcing the retreat of the other mime a few more steps. Prussia seized Matthew by the wrist and ran to the other side of the ring.

Prussia then sheathed his imaginary sword and bowed towards Matthew. Matthew's heart pounded wildly and his breath caught in his throat as he once again found himself in a waltz with the devilish man. Together they danced around the ring once more. Matthew nearly fell when Prussia came to a halt again. This time it was the other mime who held his hand out as if he were holding a sword. Prussia dropped Matthew's hands and winked reassuringly at the blond. He drew his fist from his hip as if he were drawing his sword from its sheath. He then charged the other mime.

Not to be outdone, the other mime did as well. Back and forth they raged across the ring. At last, after a particularly fierce exchange, the mime with a child's smile swung a bit harder than normal. Matthew watched as Prussia's face took on an exaggerated look of surprise. His hand flew up as if the sword that he was supposedly holding had been knocked out of it. He staggered back a moment before tackling the larger mime. Together they tumbled around the ring, dust flying as they engaged in a mock fist fight. Matthew watched with fascination, ignoring the laughter from the audience so that he could focus better on the battle between the two mimes.

The other mime knocked Prussia to the ground and grabbed Matthew by the arm. Prussia dashed around to the other side of him and grabbed Matthew's other arm. At once they began to engage in a spirited tug of war. Matthew was tugged this way and that, while the mimes made exaggerated gestures of anger towards each other. Matthew had had just about enough of this and jerked his arms away from both of them.

The mimes took one look at Matthew and then tackled him simultaneously. Matthew felt something soft cushion his head as he landed on the ground. He glanced to the right and saw Prussia smiling at him. Quickly Prussia jerked him to his feet. Prussia dipped him, and Matthew forgot to breathe as the man's lips came just a little too close to his in an exaggerated mock kiss. The other mime staggered to his feet and glared at them. Matthew felt a smile tug at his lips as the lights dimmed.

"Let's give a hand for Prussia, Russia and Canada!" the announcer said.

A single spotlight overhead flickered on above them and the whole audience once again burst into applause. Matthew blushed slightly and bowed. He glanced towards where his seat was located and saw Alfred jumping up and down in his seat hollering.

"And since Matthew here was such a good sport, he gets free tickets to see Iron Maiden live in concert next month." The man dug into his pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to him.

"Th-thank you!" Matthew said. He had wanted the tickets before, but hadn't been able to get a hold of any before they were all sold out. Matthew headed back to his seat and settled down beside Alfred.

"That was awesome!" Alfred exclaimed flailing his arms as they headed towards the car. "You looked like you were having fun as well, Mattie."

"I actually did," Matthew blushed as the mime's smirking face came into mind. "Thanks for taking me."

"You're welcome and what's the blush for?" Alfred asked. "Oooh I get it. Someone has a crush. Someone has a crush. Someone has a cr-"

His voice was cut off as Matthew whacked him upside of the head. "Shut up, Al."

Matthew chose to ignore that his brother's lips were still twitching.

* * *

It was Monday again, the start of another long and tiring week at work. Matthew sighed, and leaned against the cool glass of the elevator wall. It had been a horrible day. His boss had been in a foul mood and had chosen to take it out on the staff and him in particular. Why didn't his invisibility work when he actually wanted it to?

He didn't even bother to look up when the elevator stopped and another person got on. He did however notice when the elevator screeched and ground quite suddenly to a halt.

"Shit! I am too awesome to be stuck in an elevator!"

Matthew turned from where he had been leaning against the window and then let out a yelp of surprise. He was stuck in an elevator with a mime – no the mime! The albino man whipped around and his red eyes widened.

"Hey, I know you. You're the guy Gilbird chose to come up on stage with us," Prussia said. "Matthew, right?"

"G-gilbird?" Matthew said weakly. His eyes wandered up to the man's hair and sure enough he saw the little yellow bird nestled up there. "You named it Gilbird?"

"An awesome name for the pet of the awesome me. I'm Gilbert by the way. Can I do you the honour of taking you out to dinner?" Gilbert asked.

"Geez, ego much?" Matthew muttered under his breath even as he suppressed a smile. Gilbert was looking at him expectantly, with a confident smirk. By themselves, Matthew's eyes began to trail down the other man's body. His mouth dried as he looked the man up and down. It was clear that the costume that the man wore on stage did not do him justice.

"Shall I take that as a yes?" Gilbert's smirk grew wider as Matthew quickly averted his eyes.

Matthew fought down a blush and nodded. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad day after all.

* * *

_So what do you think? I would especially like some concrit for the characterizations of Matthew, Gilbert and Alfred._


End file.
